The day the system went down
A firm has used paper for years. Then it moves everything online: orders, pay, and customer records.
Six months later the main system fails for one hour. Forty people sit and wait. The support team gets 60 calls.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Reliance | needing something so much that you cannot work without it |
| Digital skills | the ability to use computers and online tools well |
| CPD | continuing professional development: learning new skills for your job |
| Information system | people, data and technology that collect, store and share information |
| Maintain | keep something working and up to date |
| Workforce | all the people who work for an organisation |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can explain four ways that digital reliance changes the work of a support team.
Starter
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3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
More reliance means more demand
The more a firm uses digital systems, the more it needs support. When a system fails, people cannot work.
More systems also means more users, more devices and more things that can break. So a support team is busier, and its work matters more.
More training and more CPD
Staff need digital skills to use the new tools. So the workforce needs more training. Support staff often give it.
Support staff also need to learn. Systems change fast. CPD keeps their own skills up to date, through courses, reading and practice.
Four implications for support roles
| Change in the business | What it means for support |
|---|---|
| Work depends on digital systems | More requests for help, and more pressure to fix fast |
| Staff must use digital skills | More training needs across the workforce |
| Systems and tools keep changing | More CPD so support staff stay up to date |
| Information is held in systems | Operate and maintain them so information is collected, stored, kept up to date and shared |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.